This invention relates to mirror assemblies for vehicles, and more particularly, to an improved rearview mirror assembly for mounting within a vehicle. The assembly allows movement between a full light-reflectivity day position and a reduced light-reflectivity night position with a simplified, more reliable structure.
Rearview mirror assemblies allowing movement between day and night light-reflectivity positions have been used for many years. Governmental concern for strength, bending resistance, breakaway ability, and other safety requirements, as well as recent concern for weight and cost reduction in vehicles to provide energy savings, have dictated a reexamination of existing mirror assembly designs.
In the past, different day/night rearview mirror assemblies had been designed for different vehicles and the varying requirements of different countries in which automobiles or other vehicles are manufactured. In the United States, not only must the inside rearview mirror for a passenger car provide a predetermined field of view, but it must be mounted so that it is stably supported, is both horizontally and vertically adjustable, and can deflect, collapse or break away from its supported position without leaving sharp edges when subjected to a predetermined force in the forward direction within predetermined angular boundaries.
In the European Economic Community, motor vehicle regulations require that a rearview mirror assembly be able to withstand a static load test including the support of a 25 kilogram weight at one edge while any bracket support and the opposite edge are fixedly restrained for one minute. The assembly must pass the test without breaking or, if the assembly does break, without glass fragments being released. Alternately, the mirror may be made of safety glass.
Certain manufacturing difficulties have also been discovered with prior known assemblies. For instance, in the manufacture of certain rearview mirror assemblies it is necessary to heat and form a rectilinear lip on a molded case into a rounded edge covering the periphery of the mirror element after its insertion within a case. Difficulty has been experienced in consistently obtaining uniform mirror retaining lips in such assemblies. In addition, it was desired to more easily obtain positive control of the day/night pivoting action of the mirror assembly, especially in varying weather and climatic conditions.
With respect to assemblies which include a substantially rigid case with a pivot actuator including a flexible portion which provides resilience during pivoting, it was desired to obtain greater strength through the assembly area in which the pivot actuator was mounted.
Further, it is necessary that a mirror assembly meet minimum vibration standards so as to present a clear image when viewed by the driver of the vehicle, all while maintaining strength sufficient to meet the above-noted governmental regulations. A reduction in the complexity of prior assemblies was also desired to both decrease costs and simplify manufacturing requirements without sacrificing functional features.
The present invention was developed as a simplified, reliable, inside, day/night rearview mirror assembly for use in virtually all currently manufactured general use vehicles. The objective was to provide a mirror assembly useful in varying climatic conditions and which takes into account the governmental safety requirements for the major vehicular producing countries of the world. The present mirror assembly was thus designed and produced in recognition of the need for a simplified structure for retaining a mirror element within a case, the need to keep manufacturing rejection rates of the assemblies to a minimum, the need for simpler, more positive control of the day/night pivoting action while providing fewer overall parts, and the need to maintain strength, reduced weight, and resistance to vibration during use.